Stories about Facebook on WikiTribune – WikiTribunehttps://www.wikitribune.com
Come collaborate with us, because facts really do matterFri, 22 Feb 2019 14:50:45 +0000en-GBhourly1Tech giants could face EU fines for not acting fast enough on extremist postshttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/87984/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=business&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=business&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=business
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/87984/?talkWed, 12 Sep 2018 11:29:20 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=87984In his annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed that Google, Facebook and Twitter remove online extremist content within an hour of being notified of its existence or face fines. In March, the EU gave the firms three months to show they were acting quickly to […]]]>

In his annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker proposed that Google, Facebook and Twitter remove online extremist content within an hour of being notified of its existence or face fines.

In March, the EU gave the firms three months to show they were acting quickly to take down radical posts. EU regulators have since concluded the companies haven’t done enough.

The Commission’s new proposal, which will need backing from the EU countries and European Parliament, calls for the tech companies to be fined up to 4 percent of their annual global revenue if they systematically fail to remove online extremist content within an hour of being notified (The New York Times). The proposal would also require internet platforms to provide annual transparency reports proving they’re trying to tackle abuse.

The proposed measure would go further than the current voluntary code of conduct on hate speech, which Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube joined in 2016. That code requires participants to, if necessary, remove hateful online content within 24 hours of being notified and does not give governments the right to take down content.

According to the latest review of the code, signatory companies have removed 70 percent of content reported to them as illegal hate speech within 24 hours (European Commission). Other companies have since announced they plan to join the voluntary code (The Verge).

What are the rules for removing online extremist content in other countries?

Germany – In October 2017, Germany introduced a law mandating social media sites remove hate speech within 24 hours of being notified, or face fines of up to €50 million ($57 million), according to Techcrunch.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/87984/feed/0Donald Trump accuses Google of being ‘rigged,’ says the internet giant should be ‘careful’https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85663/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Donald%20J%20Trump&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Donald%20J%20Trump&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Donald%20J%20Trump
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85663/?talkTue, 28 Aug 2018 23:05:09 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=85663U.S. President Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that Google was ‘rigged’ as the search engine seemed to only surface negative articles about his administration. He warned the internet giant, whose parent company is called Alphabet Inc, that it had “to be careful.” “I think Google is really taking advantage of our people,” Trump said […]]]>

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said on Tuesday that Google was ‘rigged’ as the search engine seemed to only surface negative articles about his administration.

He warned the internet giant, whose parent company is called Alphabet Inc, that it had “to be careful.”

“I think Google is really taking advantage of our people,” Trump said on Tuesday in the Oval Office.

Trump said results for Googling “Trump News” only surfaced coverage from outlets like CNN and not conservative publications.

“Google, and Twitter and Facebook, they are really treading on very, very troubled territory, and they have to be careful,” Trump said. “It’s not fair to large portions of the population.”

Trump’s economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, later told reporters that the White House was “taking a look” at Google, saying the administration would do “some investigation and some analysis,” without providing further details.

Google denied any political bias, saying the search engine is “not used to set a political agenda.”

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85663/feed/0Jeremy Corbyn says tech giants could pay for public interest journalism with new taxhttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/85010/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=BBC&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=BBC&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=BBC
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85010/?talkThu, 23 Aug 2018 10:26:17 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=85010In a response to concerns of a perceived lack of trust in the media and the power exerted by technology companies, the UK’s leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn proposed a tax be levied on the likes of Facebook and Amazon to fund public interest journalism. Here is the full text of his speech. The annual cost […]]]>

In a response to concerns of a perceived lack of trust in the media and the power exerted by technology companies, the UK’s leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn proposed a tax be levied on the likes of Facebook and Amazon to fund public interest journalism.

The annual cost of the British “licence fee” for accessing the BBC — approximately £150.50 ($194, €167) per household — is regularly debated in certain circles of the UK media, but Corbyn’s proposals would shift some of the financial burden to technology companies.

He made his case while delivering the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture during Edinburgh’s annual TV festival. Journalists were allowed to attend the event; however broadcasters were initially denied entry, prompting criticism.

In the speech, he said that quality journalism is “held back” by media tycoons and, in the case of the BBC, Britain’s publicly-funded broadcaster, by government influence.

Just about to deliver the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture, about media reform. You can watch the livestream here: https://t.co/Efspo0t6no #ChangeTheMedia

Corbyn said that without major changes, a “few tech giants and unaccountable billionaires will control huge swathes of our public space and debate”.

Under a Labour government, Corbyn would also allow Freedom of Information (FOI) requests from private companies with public service contracts. Currently under Freedom of Information laws, information can only be requested with FOIs from publicly-funded bodies. He will also propose to stop government ministers having the ability to veto FOIs.

Can tech giants fund public journalism?

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/85010/feed/5Facebook and Twitter tackle Iranian ‘influence operation’https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84889/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Bernie%20Sanders&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Bernie%20Sanders&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Bernie%20Sanders
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84889/?talkWed, 22 Aug 2018 11:24:15 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=84889Facebook and Twitter have dismantled networks of “inauthentic” accounts they say originated in Iran and Russia, and were aimed at spreading misinformation ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections and in Western politics more broadly. Acting on a tip-off from cyber-security firm FireEye, Facebook removed 652 pages, which were followed by 155,000 people on August 21. […]]]>

Facebook and Twitter have dismantled networks of “inauthentic” accounts they say originated in Iran and Russia, and were aimed at spreading misinformation ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections and in Western politics more broadly.

Acting on a tip-off from cyber-security firm FireEye, Facebook removed 652 pages, which were followed by 155,000 people on August 21. Twitter suspended 284 accounts on August 22 and did not provide further information about exposure.

FireEye said its investigation had identified an influence campaign aimed at audiences in the U.S., UK, Latin America and Middle East, to promote narratives in line with Iranian interests.

The causes championed by the inauthentic accounts included opposition to Israel and Saudi Arabia and support for Palestine the the Iran Nuclear Deal. Some of the accounts linked to anonymous “news” sites and some masqueraded as liberal activists and supporters of left-wing U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/84889/feed/0Facebook commits to ending ad discriminationhttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/80958/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Advertising&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Advertising&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Advertising
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/80958/?talkWed, 25 Jul 2018 12:59:00 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=80958Facebook has signed a binding agreement to end advertisers’ ability to exclude users from targeting according to demographics including race and sexual orientation. The social media group signed an Assurance of Discontinuance following a 20-month investigation by the Attorney General for the U.S. State of Washington, which has resulted in legally binding pledges that were announced April […]]]>

Facebook has signed a binding agreement to end advertisers’ ability to exclude users from targeting according to demographics including race and sexual orientation.

The social media group signed an Assurance of Discontinuance following a 20-month investigation by the Attorney General for the U.S. State of Washington, which has resulted in legally binding pledges that were announced April 24 to prevent what it termed the “abuse” of ad targeting.

The issue was first raised in 2016 by ProPublica, which purchased adverts on the platform and was able to exclude minority groups from being targeted.

Facebook is currently facing a lawsuit bought by the National Fair Housing Alliance, a coalition of campaign groups, which contends that it engaged in or assisted discriminatory housing practices.

The Assurance of Discontinuation will apply to Facebook’s operations throughout the U.S. WikiTribune has reached out to Facebook for comment and to ask about compliance in other jurisdictions.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/80958/feed/3Uganda’s social media tax: a necessary cost or net neutrality hazard?https://www.wikitribune.com/article/79902/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Facebook&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Facebook&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Facebook
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/79902/?talkThu, 19 Jul 2018 10:37:20 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?p=79902Earlier this month, the Ugandan government introduced a social media tax as part of what it says is a way to generate revenue and curb idle online gossip.

But Ugandans aren’t taking the new tax on online services and mobile money transactions lightly. Protests have broken out and tech companies and activists have tried to sue the government (The Guardian). Concerns range from violations of freedom of speech to the imposition of more taxes in a country where nearly a quarter of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

Key facts

As of July 1, Ugandan internet users have to pay a tax of 200 Uganda shillings to access any of the more than 60 online platforms chosen by the government because they offer voice and messaging services. The platforms are listed by the government as “Over The Top (OTT)”.

President Yoweri Museveni, in his 32nd year of power in Uganda, says the tax is needed to increase revenue to turn the impoverished country into a middle-income one by 2020.

Ugandan finance minister Matia Kasaija told Reuters the tax plan will help “maintain the security of the country and extend electricity so that you people can enjoy more of social media, more often, more frequently.”

A report on the net neutrality and free speech implications – if Ugandans have to pay to use social media, how is their freedom of speech and expression limited? Can everyone afford it?

What else?

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/79902/feed/0Why Myanmar’s war against Kachin receives little attentionhttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/74658/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Aung%20San%20Suu%20Kyi&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Aung%20San%20Suu%20Kyi&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Aung%20San%20Suu%20Kyi
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/74658/?talkTue, 12 Jun 2018 19:14:11 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=74658Many in the international community are aware of the persecution of the Myanmar ethnic group known as the Rohingya. The Myanmar government’s war against the Muslim minority received international attention 2017 when over 600,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh to escape conditions akin to ethnic cleansing, according to a top United Nations official. For more than 50 years, […]]]>

Many in the international community are aware of the persecution of the Myanmar ethnic group known as the Rohingya. The Myanmar government’s war against the Muslim minority received international attention 2017 when over 600,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh to escape conditions akin to ethnic cleansing, according to a top United Nations official.

For more than 50 years, however, the predominately Buddhist Myanmar military has waged separate wars against many ethnic minorities native to the country. More than 100 ethnic minorities are native to the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma. Many have experienced similar levels of state violence as the Rohingya.

Now, the country’s Baptist-Christian minority known as the Kachin find themselves in the unfortunate, yet familiar, position of being targeted by the Myanmar military. According to a United Nations report, in April more than 5,000 Kachin were displaced after the military launched a campaign against them in traditional Kachin lands in the country’s mountainous north near the Chinese border.

Nsang Gum San, a Kachin activist and leader in the global Kachin Alliance now living in the United States, said the recent escalation in violence shows nothing has changed for his people since Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi became State Counsellor (a position akin to a prime minister) in 2016. Despite transitioning to a quasi-democracy in 2011, the Myanmar government and military are still dominated by the Burmese, a Buddhist ethnic group that represents roughly two-thirds of the country’s population.

“There are all of these multinational companies in Burma,” said Gum San from his Maryland home. “However, if we measure reform by having Starbucks … then we are definitely wrong. Because real reform doesn’t mean carrying out things that were witnessed in the 19th century. These are crimes against humanity.”

Little international attention

Despite accounts of the military targeting civilians and using rape as a weapon, the plight of the Kachin, like other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, hasn’t received the same level of international media attention as the Rohingya crisis (Sky News).

Why haven’t international news organizations devoted as much attention to reporting on the Kachin as they have the Rohingya? Part of the reason may be due to the scale of the military operations. Rohingya refugees displaced by government actions outnumber Kachin refugees by more than 100 times. The Kachin are typically located in a remote, difficult to access part of the country. The Rohingya have also been denied citizenship, which blocks the group from receiving an education or moving freely about the country.

Gum San attributes the lack of media attention to official control of media access. Adjacent to communist China, the jungle region of northern Myanmar is prone to government-sponsored media blackouts.

“Journalists can report from Bangladesh, they can take photos and talk to refugees,” he says. “You cannot do reporting through the China border.”

However, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army operations have mostly ended in failure. In 2017, the Myanmar military was able to displace more than 600,000 Rohingya in a span of three months. The ARSA currently controls no territory.

In contrast, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is considered one of the most formidable rebel armies in the country, and has secured territory and a high level of political leverage through violent resistance (Radio Free Asia).

Both the Rohingya and Kachin have been branded as “terrorists” by the Myanmar military for their respective armed groups (Democratic Voice of Burma). But the concept of Rohingya violent resistance has attracted more animosity from the Burmese ethnic majority compared with the Kachin, even though the Kachin are better armed.

Anti-Muslim sentiment is strong in predominately Buddhist Myanmar. Buddhist nationalists who promote a homogenous society cite Muslims as an existential threat, claiming a Muslim plan to become the majority in Myanmar (CNN).

Pressure to avoid dissent is palpable. Even Pope Francis avoided directly speaking on the Rohingya issue, presumably out of fear of a backlash when he visited the city of Yangon.

Four cuts: Same strategy

The Kachin Independence Army poses one of the largest obstacles for the Burmese military campaign for national control, yet the military has no specialized strategy for defeating them. The military has so far employed the same strategy against the Kachin as it has in other ethnic conflicts.

Known as “four cuts,” the strategy calls for cutting off food, funds, intelligence, and recruits in areas where ethnic rebel groups operate. This almost always means targeting civilian populations, especially in rural areas, such as the recent incident in Kachin State (Burma Link). A “scorched earth” tactic there was widely cited as the reason the Myanmar military was able to reclaim ethnic-controlled territories in Southern Myanmar (Asia Times).

While the KIA is far from defeated, the Myanmar military’s strategy is slowly producing results.

George Washington University professor Christina Fink said the military’s focus on cutting off funds is a particularly effective way of degrading the KIA. Radio Free Asia reported in January 2018 the military has prioritized controlling mining operations in Kachin State, specifically targeting jade, an essential source of revenue for the rebel army.

As fighting continues, prospects for diplomacy appear slim. The KIA agreed to a ceasefire in 1994, breaking alliances with other ethnic militias to make the deal. The Christian minority was outraged when the military broke the agreement in 2011 (Foreign Policy).

“The KIA is really bitter about what happened … so they want more significant terms negotiated in the peace process if they are going to be part it,” said Fink. “And the (military) hasn’t been willing to agree to those.”

Further Reporting

Sky News reported on the predominately Baptist-Christian Kachin and how they’re fighting the Myanmar military. WikiTribune community member Steve Merican suggested we continue to report on the issue.

This WikiTribune story is dedicated to reporting on ethnic conflict in Myanmar.

Story ideas

Who are the Kachin? How long have they been Christian?

Why haven’t international media covered the plight of the Kachin to the same degree as the Rohingya crisis?

Explain why some ethnic minorities in Myanmar have mixed feelings about media attention given to the Rohingya.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/74658/feed/0Facebook publishes its online abuse numbershttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/70494/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Facebook&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Facebook&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Facebook
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/70494/?talkWed, 16 May 2018 04:48:18 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=70494In a company first, Facebook has published details of how it deleted or added warnings to about 29 million posts that broke its rules on hate speech, graphic violence, terrorism and sex. The report, which was published on its site, covers its enforcement efforts between October 2017 to March 2018, and it covers six areas: graphic […]]]>

In a company first, Facebook has published details of how it deleted or added warnings to about 29 million posts that broke its rules on hate speech, graphic violence, terrorism and sex.

The report, which was published on its site, covers its enforcement efforts between October 2017 to March 2018, and it covers six areas: graphic violence, adult nudity and sexual activity, terrorist propaganda, hate speech, spam, and fake accounts. It is the first time the company has outlined its efforts to enforce its own rules.

“It’s partly that technology like artificial intelligence, while promising, is still years away from being effective for most bad content because context is so important. For example, artificial intelligence isn’t good enough yet to determine whether someone is pushing hate or describing something that happened to them so they can raise awareness of the issue.”

Help WikiTribune pull out key data from the report and each of the categories Facebook outlines. Add the metrics beneath the below subheadings.

An estimate of 0.22 percent to 0.27 percent of views were of content that violated the facebook standards for graphic violence in Q1 2018. This increased from an estimate of 0.16 percent to 0.19 percent in Q4 2017.

In other words, of every 10,000 content views, an estimate of 22 to 27 contained graphic violence, compared to an estimate of 16 to 19 last quarter.

An estimate of 0.07% to 0.09% of views were of content that violated the Facebook standards for adult nudity and sexual activity in Q1 2018. This is slightly higher than an estimate of 0.06% to 0.08% of views in Q4 2017.

In other words, of every 10,000 content views, an estimate of 7 to 9 contained adult nudity and sexual activity that violated our standards, compared to 6 to 8 views last quarter.

This metric is not available because Facebook can’t reliably estimate it.

Compared to some other violation types such as graphic violence, the number of views of terrorist propaganda content related to ISIS, al-Qaeda and their affiliates on Facebook is extremely low. That’s because there’s relatively little of it and because the majority is removed before people see it.

Fake accounts are estimated to represent approximately 3 percent to 4 percent of monthly active users (MAU) on Facebook during Q1 2018 and Q4 2017. This estimate may vary each quarter based on spikes or dips in automated fake account creation.

In Q1 2018, Facebook disabled 583 million fake accounts, down from 694 million in Q4 2017.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/70494/feed/0Facebook will launch dating service ‘soon’https://www.wikitribune.com/article/68683/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=business&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=business&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=business
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/68683/?talkWed, 02 May 2018 12:45:24 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=68683Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the social network would be launching its own dating service “soon,” without giving a date, at F8, Facebook’s annual developers conference in San Jose, California. Zuckerberg said: “We’ve designed this with privacy and safety in mind from the beginning” (The Guardian). He said “friends” won’t see a person’s dating profile, […]]]>

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the social network would be launching its own dating service “soon,” without giving a date, at F8, Facebook’s annual developers conference in San Jose, California.

Zuckerberg said: “We’ve designed this with privacy and safety in mind from the beginning” (The Guardian). He said “friends” won’t see a person’s dating profile, and that an individual will only be suggested to people who are not their Facebook friends. Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook was building a “clear history” tool to allow users to delete their browsing history. However, it’s not clear whether the dating service’s private messages will be encrypted (Huffington Post).

He noted that 200 million of Facebook’s 2.2 billion users have classified themselves as single.

Zuckerberg said the dating service would focus on “real long-term relationships, not just hook-ups”(The Verge) and that users will only be able to send text messages privately — no pictures or videos (Huffington Post).

Shares in the dating business Match Group, which owns dating services Tinder and OkCupid, fell by more than 22 percent after the announcement.

]]>https://www.wikitribune.com/article/68683/feed/1Facebook launches transparency tool for Irish abortion votehttps://www.wikitribune.com/article/68061/?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=Abortion&pk_campaign=RSS&pk_kwd=Abortion&pk_source=RSS&pk_medium=RSS&pk_content=Abortion
https://www.wikitribune.com/article/68061/?talkMon, 30 Apr 2018 14:53:43 +0000https://www.wikitribune.com/?post_type=stories&p=68061A new tool from Facebook allows users in Ireland to view the sources of sponsored posts ahead of a referendum on abortion rights. But critics say the tool fails the test of true transparency. Launched initially on April 25 as part of a transparency pilot program, the View Ads feature shows Irish users all ads any Facebook page […]]]>

A new tool from Facebook allows users in Ireland to view the sources of sponsored posts ahead of a referendum on abortion rights. But critics say the tool fails the test of true transparency.

Launched initially on April 25 as part of a transparency pilot program, the View Ads feature shows Irish users all ads any Facebook page is promoting to people in Ireland, even if those ads are not in their individual news feed.

Concerns were raised in Ireland that campaign groups and foreign influencers could use targeted advertising to influence the referendum (The New York Times). But Kaplan said Facebook hopes the tool, that will likely be rolled out globally by mid-June, will bring “greater transparency” to ads related to the vote.

However, transparency advocates say the Facebook tool doesn’t go far enough to make ads paid for by pages related to the referendum truly evident.

One of the most heated debates in Ireland’s history, the referendum will ask whether voters want to retain or repeal the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution, or section 40.3.3, that equates the life of a women and an unborn child, and prohibits abortion in nearly all cases.

The ‘View Ads’ tool *should* now be live for all Irish Facebook users, allowing you to view any active ads a Facebook Page is promoting to people in Ireland. Here’s how to access them on mobile (example from @Together4yes) and on desktop (example from @loveboth8)

“[View Ads] is a welcome development … but also it doesn’t go far enough,” said Craig Dwyer from the Transparency Referendum Initiative (TRI), a volunteer-run group scrutinizing political advertising online in Ireland ahead of the vote.

The Transparent Referendum Initiative team is building a database of all paid political adverts targeting Irish Facebook users ahead of the referendum. It is available for anyone to view online.

Facebook tool ‘falls short’ of transparency

But the database has found that many pages relating to the referendum are untraceable or anonymous. “We’ve no information as to who’s behind them or where they’re based,” Dwyer told WikiTribune over the phone from Dublin. “The new View Ads tool doesn’t really do anything to combat those pages.”

“Whilst we are able to go into any kind of page and view whatever ads that are active and being promoted to users in Ireland, it falls short of real transparency.”

Gavin Sheridan, the co-founder of Irish transparency organization Right To Know, also suggested flaws in the tool in a thread on Twitter. He pointed out that a new Facebook page for the website Undecided On The 8th was created on Facebook a day before “View Ads” was launched. The page – since deleted – promised to offer “the facts” surrounding the abortion debate. However, despite the transparency initiative that lets users see the page is using ads, information on who runs the Facebook page, who registered the website, and who is paying for the adverts wasn’t available, said Sheridan.

Facebook’s View Ads tool and what they’re doing for openness “falls well short” of what’s needed by the social media giant to host a truly transparent platform, Sheridan said.

UPDATE: The Undecided8 Facebook page *has been deleted*. Next step will be: a new page will appear and we will go through this whole process again.

Foreign influencers also a concern

Other transparency initiatives from Facebook including restrictions on who can post political ads will be rolled out before local elections in the UK in 2019, according to its chief technology officer, Mike Schroepfer.

But, with just four weeks until the Irish referendum on May 25, advertising paid for by foreign influencers is already a cause for concern (The New York Times).

A €137,000 ($166,000) donation made by American-Hungarian financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations(Irish Times) to Amnesty International’s My Body My Rights campaign, which advocates for access to abortion in Ireland, was ordered to be returned in December 2017. The country’s laws prohibit foreign donors making donations to groups involved in elections or referendums, the Irish Times reported.

But Ireland’s campaign finance laws, though strict, do not extend to Facebook ads, said Dwyer. This raises the risk of ads paid for by political groups overseas who wish to influence the vote, which Dwyer says is a “genuine concern.”

“Under legislation, people outside of Ireland can’t donate to a campaign, but with social media they can spend any amount they wish and target voters,” he told WikiTribune.

“[Facebook] is becoming increasingly aware that they need to do something and take action to address people’s real and genuine concerns around how the platform can be used in ways that can threaten the democratic process,” Dwyer said. “[But] we need more information as to who is behind these ads, how much are they spending, we need more information.”

According to Independent.ie, Facebook will block all adverts about the referendum on the Eighth Amendment that come from outside of Ireland. It may also do the same for future votes and elections in the country.